At heart, however, it's Korean, so, whatever is ordered, you're likely to get a mix of condiments and small, complementary Korean side dishes - such as the house-made kimchee, the spicy, fermented cabbage.

Also found in the lineup, which changes daily: a small quantity of seaweed dressed with mayonnaise; slices of colorful pickled daikon; green beans tossed with miniature anchovies; slices of firm bellflower root; and a small portion of a delicate, savory custard.

Some of the appetizers could qualify as a main dish.

The Korean seafood pancake ($10), for example, fills a dinner plate and contains shrimp, mussels and calamari; and is flavored with scallions. The chewy consistency indicates that it's made at least partly with rice flour.

Also entree-sized are stir-fried chewy rice cakes, slices of a mild fish cake, a whole hard-boiled egg and assorted vegetables - all in a spicy red sauce (deok-bok-ki, $10).

The kitchen turns out excellent vegetable egg rolls ($3). The nicely deep-fried shell holds sliced cabbage and other vegetables plus shreds of egg. The roll is garnished with fresh cabbage.

From the Korean tradition of bibimbap rice dishes, Poong Mei produces a vegetarian offering of silky, delicate tofu atop white rice that sizzles to a crust in the hot earthenware pot in which it's served. Spinach and a smattering of vegetables augment the mild dish (hot stone bibimbap, $10), which can be ignited by dipping into the side dish of an intriguingly hot, smoky sauce.

For a different take on tofu, large pieces are fried pleasingly crisp and finished with spinach, sliced garlic and large pieces of scallion in a sauce (sauteed spinach and tofu, $11).

As the name implies, the shredded pork with hot pepper ($12) comes spicy. The meat is stir-fried with hot peppers and plenty of shiitake mushrooms, onion and green bell pepper before finishing in a brown pan sauce. The blend of vegetables provides an intriguing taste and tames the bell-pepper flavor.

Korean-style noodles, made in-house in the traditional way without machines, are the backbone of several dishes.

The most interesting noodle dish (zha jhang myun, $10) features julienne zucchini with a plentiful side of a black-bean sauce slightly smoky with pork. Slow-cooked onion and miniature shrimp add interest. As black-bean sauces go, this one has comparatively little salt, indicating that it doesn't rely on commercially salted and preserved black beans.

For a dose of sodium chloride, turn to the salty squid ($15). Pieces of calamari are stir-fried briefly with onion, garlic and slivered jalapeno peppers. The version is more elaborate than most others, partly because of its large quantity of hot peppers and the presentation over large leaves of lettuce.

The wine and beer offerings are few.

The Yellowtail cabernet sauvignon ($4.50) is surprisingly well-structured. The same brand's chardonnay ($4.50) is serviceable. The most interesting of the beers is the Canadian-brewed Asahi - pale, well-balanced with appropriate bitter edges and large enough to share (24 ounces, $6.50).

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/weekender/stories/2010/05/06/sides-sauces-supplement-hearty-korean-lineup.html